Happy Sunday!

Another weekend snow storm in our region of the world… regretting the decision to cancel services @ Destiny Family Center this morning. Very sad about this, but hey it’s a snow day DFC’ers! Make it a day of MEMORIES with your family and friends!

Check out a few of my SNOW DAY resources:

• The 3 Symbols of a Snowy Day
• 14 reasons I wanted to Have Church Today!
• 10 Innovative Things 2 Do On A Snow Day!

Right after we decided to cancel church, I loaded up the blue suburban with clothes and my computer and my daughter and her mischievous puppy… and we drove to Richmond.

Here’s the story…

As you’ve heard: Emily lost her dad last week… the darkest time of her life (besides March of 2009). This is the first time I’ve had to REALLY comfort my wife in 20 years of marriage. Emily has comforted me through the loss of three CLOSE relatives in 3 years… and what a comforter she was! Really, there is no way for me to ever thank her… and by receiving that kind of LOVE, I learned HOW to COMFORT a grieving person.

So when it became apparent that Emily’s dad was going to pass away, I prayed for God to make me a COMFORTER to my wife… just as she was to me! Wow, this might sound bizarre to some of you guys… but, its much easier receiving comfort than giving it.

I think its far more painful feeling someone else’s pain, than having your own.

In this case with Emily’s dad, I mourned the loss of MY amazing father-in-law WHILE I comforted my wife during the loss of her one and only father. He was such an influence in my life. Because he loved me SO MUCH, I felt so much pain. Still, my pain was nothing compared to a Daddy’s girl losing her one and only Daddy!

I hope more than anything right now, that I’ve done a good job comforting my Emily and her mom and my two kids. I keep praying for strength to be a good servant, and for the wisdom to know what to say and what not to say… and when to embrace and when to give space, etc.

Comforting a mourner is one of the most challenging, most meaningful things we can do for another human!

Yes, I know a few of you guys may be tempted to go super spiritual on me right about now… and you may come real close to quoting a few verses about how the Holy Spirit is supposed to be our one and only comforter. I agree with you!

John 14:16-17 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another COMFORTER, that he may abide with you for ever; ¹⁷Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

We certainly do need to LEAN on God in such painful times. We reach to him and he reaches to us; he reaches to us and we reach to him. He is always there for us in the darkest of times… he NEVER leaves us COMFORTLESS!

When God reaches out to us, many times, he comforts through other humans! The Great Comforter makes us his little comforters to each other. And in light of this thought, I want to be the very best comforter I can be, with Gods grace. Make sense?

Back to the story…

Emily was more sad yesterday morning than I had ever felt her to be. I was concerned. I felt so much pain in my heart for her. I felt so helpless… torn between my responsibilities at home and my intense desire to comfort my grieving wife.

You might not EVER hear me say this again for the rest of my life: Yesterday was the very first time I’ve ever been HAPPY about having to cancel a church service. Well, not perfectly happy… because I am the Pastor of the greatest church on earth, and I LOVE NOTHING MORE than to be with my church family… EXCEPT to be with my wife on such a day as yesterday!

Yesterdays snow storm was very unusual in that it snowed aggressively from west to east… pounding the I-64 corridor. Emily didn’t think in a million years, that Heaven and me would DRIVE all the way to Richmond in such conditions.

When we left the house, I told Heaven… we might not make it all the way, but we will go as far as we can!

The great surprise…

After 4 and a half hours in the worse driving conditions of my life… we safely arrived in Richmond.

Emily sent me a text asking what I was up too!

I replied: “Getting ready to make some hot chocolate.” (her favorite drink on snow days)

She said something like: “I wish we had some hot chocolate here.” (sad text countenance)

So Heaven and I stopped at the Food Lion down the road and picked up hot chocolate mix, mini marshmallows, whipped cream, and milk… and we headed for Emily’s moms road.

Got there… ROAD CLOSED!

No worries, we drove another 15 minutes and came in from the other side… had to weave in and out of something like 20 abandoned cars and trucks… barely made it!

Called Coree and asked him pull up my facebook on his computer… and asked him to call Mom into the room… and asked them to check out the new photo on my facebook wall… Heaven and I posted a photo (from my iphone) of the exit sign for her road! We timed it so that she saw the photo right when we turned in the driveway!

The smile on her face (and Coree and Millie’s face) is worth all the money in the world! I bet it will still be there a week from today! This will be remembered as one of the greatest surprises of Emily’s life!

I will never be able to explain HOW GOOD IT FELT to COMFORT MY WIFE on one of the saddest and loneliest days of her entire life.

What did we do with the evening?? Well, we took Coree and Heaven to cousin Elizabeth and Timothy’s house… and pulled the kids behind the suburban on sleds for two hours! We retired for the night at about 11:00pm… smiling big, thanking God for our loving family!

Hope this story inspires more stories just like it! Once again…

Comforting a mourner is one of the most challenging, most meaningful things we can do for another human!

Have a super Snow Day! Please leave a few comments! Will see some of you guys on Wednesday night @ DFC! Love you all!

Dream Big, Live Bold, and Make the Difference!

Chuck

The Donate Link, Facebook, Twitter, Make me a Legend, Destiny Family Center, You Tube

Happy Saturday!

It snowing again! Looks like we’re getting about like 8-10 inches today! I personally love the snow… just not too thrilled about the timing of all these recent snow storms. They keep falling on weekends… and that kills church attendance. Grrrrr.

Todays snow storm is a little sad for me since Emily and Coree are still in Richmond comforting Emily’s Mom. One of my favorite things to do IN LIFE is to get snowed in with my wife!

If you’re looking for something to do… read my snow day blog: 10 Innovative Things 2 Do On A Snow Day!

Yesterday, was fun! I wrote from about 4:30am until 10am. Then at 11am, I had a scheduled meeting with our amazing youth pastor, Nathan Bain… and instead of meeting in the office, we drove to Richmond together, had lunch @ the Strawberry Street Cafe with the other half of my family, and had a very productive 4 hour youth ministry meeting!

Then last night, Heaven and I played two volleyball games at the church league! I found out my sister Helen Reese just got a new and FAR better job working 4 days a week, no weekends… she’s gonna get the perfect church attendance award from now on! Oh, and some VERY kind fellow randomly handed me $200! What a perfect day!

Thinking about tomorrow morning… praying the snow doesn’t keep too many people away from Destiny Family Center! Church has been amazing since our 7 year anniversary at the end of August… every single service and everything outside of services… the UNITY, and SMILES, and REVELATION of Gods Word, and the preciousness of Gods TANGIBLE presence… beyond words!

I know that sound awful preachy, but there’s just no better way to describe it… VERY RELATIONAL, VERY SPIRITUAL, VERY FUN, VERY FRUITFUL!

We’re all loving this LONG LASTING wave of momentum! Then, last Sunday was the service BEYOND WORDS… and Wednesday nights dinner and groups was BEYOND WORDS too! Something like 28 people have come to Christ since January 1st @ DFC! Thats almost a person a DAY! I love my church!!

I Miss My Family!

One final word on todays journal… I really miss my wife and son! (frowny face and watery eyes)

Coree, I miss all the laughter you bring to my life! I miss the irritation of having to share my computer with you! I miss talking to you about girls! I miss the calm you create in my world! I miss you telling me how I’m the best dad in the whole wide world! I miss that kiss you give me on the cheek every night before you go upstairs to bed! LOL just kidding! haha!

Emily, please wrap up all that work in Richmond… and bring your mom to live here in these beautiful mountains! I’m lost without you Emily! I’m just walking around in circles in the middle of the family room… the family room without a family! Heaven won’t help me clean… grrrr! And it’s a snow day… I always make you hot chocolate on snow days! My whole life is meaningless without your happy face! You’re my best friend! My dear dear Emily… please return to me, my love! (smiling with one eye winked)

Absence does make the heart grow fond… and I am FOND! See if you recognize this tune… thought it might help you remember your dear old Charlie!

Ps: I even miss Ming Mi and Chica (not as much as Ming Mi)… but I don’t miss walking them in the mornings yet! In fact, I still pretty much hate that! Emily, please give the gals a kiss on their furry little heads from DAD this morning! (cheese smile)

Chuck

Happy Friday!

Had an interesting conversation with my dear friend Wayne Howard last night. He actually asked me to be more RADICAL!

Me??? More radical! Ha-ha-ha-haaaaaaa! Coming right up! lol

Really, this friend came to me in great humility and said the following, “When I first started following your blog, you were a whole lot more BOLD than you are today. It seems today like you’re trying to keep from offending people… like you’re trying to play it safe… and you’re not challenging me like you once did.”

He continued, “I’m not saying that I agreed with all your thoughts… in fact, you riled me up a few times, you made me mad a few times… but, I would rather be riled up than to read something from middle ground that fails to MOVE ME!”

I appreciated his courageous feedback… and I’ve been thinking about his comments since that conversation. And you know what? He’s right!

I Became Paranoid

You see, 2009 was a year of unprecedented betrayal and rejection for me… and it left me more than a little paranoid! Not wanting to EVER repeat that kind of agony, I subconsciously moved toward middle ground. I didn’t like the feeling of being rejected like that… so I decided to adjust my approach, in an attempt to keep more people liking me!

Don’t be too hard on me… I bet you’ve done the same thing in your own life! And if we’re ALL not very careful… we will move towards middle ground every time we are rejected, until we’re not really presenting an ORIGINAL life or message.

Jesus Was a Radical!

The ultimate Christian challenge is to become more like Jesus. Jesus did not spend his life at MIDDLE GROUND. Despite some of the twisted popular depictions of Jesus circulating through this modern society… Jesus was hated as much as he was loved… he was killed for his radical life and message. When Jesus was rejected, he kept on presenting his truth without flinching under the pressure of popular opinion.

Be a Radical!

And we have to do the same! Whereas we should not act like arrogant fools and then claim we are being persecuted for Christ sake… we should also beware of fearing rejection and seeking acceptance soooo much that we are BLAND IN A TASTELESS world!

Matthew 5:13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.”

Yes, we should continually adjust our CHARACTER… so that we are always becoming more and more like Jesus in every single way. When presenting truth, we have to do this fearlessly and without apology. Jesus NEVER adjusted his message down. Neither should we adjust our truth down for the sake of being accepted.

When presenting political truth, we have to maintain that balance between raising our voice AND honoring the authorities that exist. Re-read my past two blogs on political correctness:

• Christians & Politics (January 27, 2009)
• Americas Better Future (January 28, 2009)

Be Original!

The world doesn’t need… the world doesn’t want another MIDDLE GROUND person. In todays tasteless society, to be original is to be radical! When a person choses to be original, he STANDS OUT… and that for many people, is very uncomfortable. But we must push through the fear of rejection to SHINE LIKE STARS IN THIS UNIVERSE!

Paranoia kills originality!

So get over it fast! Be original! Be Powerful! Start today!

For more on this subject… check out the following two blogs… they are two of my personal favorites!!

• Yes Everyone, I Love Myself! (April 15, 2009)
• It’s Ok 2 Believe: You Are Beautiful! (November 23, 2009)

Thats it for today… hope you loved it! And if you didn’t… too bad, SHUT UP! (lol) Just kidding!! haha!

Dream Big, Live Bold, and Make the Difference!

Chuck

The Donate Link, Facebook, Twitter, Make me a Legend, Destiny Family Center, You Tube

Happy Thursday!

Very saddened with last nights State of the Union address… will continue to pray (and even more) for our President and government, that somehow-someday real change will come to our nation. Until that day, I will keep appealing to the high court of heaven… that God would hear our many cries for help in this nation… and that he would raise up deliverers to rescue our people from the oppressions we now face. God certainly has a solution for every crisis… he has a strategy… if we can just hear from him and follow him, as we once did… everything can change, we can live to see a better tomorrow!

I cannot describe to you how burdened I am this morning… about the current “state” of this union. Last night, I actually felt REAL PAIN in my body and spirit over what I was and wasn’t hearing. I kept thinking, we are spending billions and billions of dollars to fund this government… and there is not one glimmer of hope coming from there right now. Dear God, all the corruption and all the empty promises… when will it end?

But I have to check such feelings and chose rather, to thank God for the men and women who serve this government. Their job is not easy, their task is almost impossible. Our nation’s leaders really need Gods help, more than most of them are willing to admit. I long for the day this entire nation realizes how much of a mess we have gotten ourselves into… and we return to God with all our hearts.

I believe this nation is living in the era Moses warned about in one of his prophetic messages to Israel. This message applies to any country God CLEARLY blesses… such as America. Please actually take the time to read the following verses:

Deuteronomy 8:10-19

10 When you have eaten your fill, be sure to praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. (this is a GOOD land: America the Beautiful)

11 “But that is the time to be careful! Beware that in your plenty you do not forget the Lord your God and disobey his commands, regulations, and decrees that I am giving you today. (Have we forgotten?)

12 For when you have become full and prosperous and have built fine homes to live in, 13 and when your flocks and herds have become very large and your silver and gold have multiplied along with everything else, be careful! (Woops)

14 Do not become proud (too late) at that time and forget the Lord your God, who rescued you from slavery in the land of Egypt. 15 Do not forget (too late) that he led you through the great and terrifying wilderness with its poisonous snakes and scorpions, where it was so hot and dry. He gave you water from the rock! 16 He fed you with manna in the wilderness, a food unknown to your ancestors. He did this to humble you and test you for your own good. (He’s given us so much)

17 He did all this so you would never say to yourself, ‘I have achieved this wealth with my own strength and energy.’ (are we saying this?) 18 Remember the Lord your God. He is the one who gives you power to be successful, in order to fulfill the covenant he confirmed to your ancestors with an oath.

19 “But I assure you of this: If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods, worshiping and bowing down to them, you will certainly be destroyed. (certain destruction?)

Now, I’m not trying to write a gloom and doom blog today. Rather, I’m aimed at riling up your faith, energize your prayers, and initiating a lifetime of greater Christian boldness.

Certain destruction means that, no matter how much we work at avoiding the inevitable… we will not be able to RECOVER… UNTIL we REMEMBER WHERE WE CAME FROM.

We will not be able to RECOVER until our leaders and citizens humbly acknowledge our decades of arrogance… until we apologize for saying what Moses warned us to NEVER say… that, “We have achieved this wealth with our own strength and energy.”

I’m optimistic about our nations future, when I consider the cycles of great awakenings in our nations history. EVERY TIME it seemed like we were on the brink of annihilation… we turned to God, who saved the day!

Our threshold for pain is much higher than it has ever been before… who knows how much more suffering we will endure before we finally humble our own hearts… and we finally tell the atheists to please stop speaking for the rest of us… and we finally stop fearing the VERY FEW anti-God folks in our land… and we finally stand as a majority voice to welcome God back into this country… ALL THE WAY BACK INTO THIS COUNTRY… and into every part of it.

Down with political correctness! Let’s surge at Washington with our prayers! Let’s live like Jesus teaches us to live… in such a way that GOD has influence in America again.

Random blog again today, I know! It’s a little sloppy and difficult to read… it’s a bit extreme and maybe out of balance in a few places. Hopefully, it’ll get you thinking and praying about America’s better future. Have a most triumphant day everyone… I love you all!!

Dream Big, Live Bold, and Make the Difference!

Chuck

Facebook, Twitter, Make me a Legend, Destiny Family Center, You Tube, The Donate Link

Happy Wednesday!

I’m writing from Richmond this morning. My daughter, Heaven and I came to see Emily and Coree last night… heading home this morning right after I post this happy blog!

“I’m praying for our President and his staff today, that they will hear from God about the direction this nation really needs to go… and that tonight’s state of the union address will announce a sharp denunciation of this administrations recent liberal socialist agenda… that it will be an HONEST speech and not just the message they know we want to hear. Please God, for the sake of America… speak to our President, give him sincere humility that he might apologize where necessary, give him wisdom and courage that he might change direction with confidence and peace and without the fear of his political party, give him your Spirit that he may be a good president. Even though I did not vote for President Obama, I now pray for him every single day… that you oh God would guide him where you please… because anyone can change!”

Proverbs 21:1 “The king’s heart is like a stream of water directed by the Lord; he guides it wherever he pleases.”

Politics… ewww right?

1. I feel like far too many Christians opt out of the political arena because of their disgust. Clearly, the American political situation is very bad these days.
2. Then, there are the Christian political bashers… those who actively engage in politics… and while attempting to raise a voice, they come off as haters. Even though these people often fail in their approach… without them, we would fail to have a balancing conviction.

I feel like neither of these political postures are very helpful to our country. On the one hand, in the name of peace, we say nothing at all. And on the other hand, in the name of telling it like it really is, we add fuel the political war.

Somehow, we as Christian people have to become far more informed and far more involved… so that we may argue the biblical side of todays leading political issues… with humility and GRACE.

2 Timothy 2:25 Gently instruct those who oppose the truth. Perhaps God will change those people’s hearts, and they will learn the truth.

Titus 1:8b-9 He must live wisely and be just. He must live a devout and disciplined life. ⁹ He must have a strong belief in the trustworthy message he was taught; then he will be able to encourage others with wholesome teaching and show those who oppose it where they are wrong.

Titus 2:8 Teach the truth so that your teaching can’t be criticized. Then those who oppose us will be ashamed and have nothing bad to say about us.

If I had a significant voice in the political arena, I would hope it might come off like this:

• I would aim to be as well informed as possible… to have a perfect understanding of all perspectives.
• I would continually immerse myself in the pages of the Holy Bible, so that I might SEE Gods position clearly, as I pray for his guidance.
• I would pray for the courage to state my position, while respecting the people on the other side of the issues… as much as possible. This would be such a challenge, since some people are very good at bringing out our worst.
• I would continually PRAY for the people who oppose me and treat them with as much respect as possible… so that God could work through my life to reveal new truth and steer their hearts in a new direction.
• I would pray for tremendous levels of humility: so that I could change my position when necessary, as new intelligence challenges my uninformed postures.

If I was a politician… I would give myself the very best chance of hearing and knowing Gods heart in all the matters of my jurisdiction. I would do this by practicing the ancient commands for being a King, found in Deuteronomy 17:18-20.

“When he sits on the throne as king, he must copy for himself this body of instruction (the Word of God) on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests. 19 He must always keep that copy with him and read it daily as long as he lives. That way he will learn to fear the Lord his God by obeying all the terms of these instructions and decrees. 20 This regular reading will prevent him from becoming proud and acting as if he is above his fellow citizens. It will also prevent him from turning away from these commands in the smallest way. And it will ensure that he and his descendants will reign for many generations in Israel.”

I bet todays blog is the most random message you’ve read in a while. It’s raw and unedited… it’s very scattered and far too vague… but it’s what’s on my mind this morning.

Would love to hear your thoughts! Praying for you all, thanking God for our friendship! Have a most triumphant day!

Dream Big, Live Bold, and Make the Difference!

Chuck